Sunday, June 6, 2010

Living Without AC

I've been thinking about starting to, periodically, write about our experiences with our efforts at becoming more frugal and better stewards of that which we have. I think I'll probably use the title "Living Without AC" to sort of highlight such subject matter when I feel inspired to write about that sort of thing. Why would I title it so? Well, because we have decided to, literally, live without Air Conditioning! Yes, seriously. Here in Sunny Florida... not really near water... we have decided to live without AC. Crazy? Yeah, it does feel a little crazy. But not.

The decision was not ours when we still lived at our rental - only about two weeks ago, in reality. The motor of the AC unit totally went kaput and our landlord, knowing we were vacating, did not have enough money to repair it. The repair would've run him around $900. He is no longer working in the firm he was employed in and he may not be working at all! Additionally, he has had a lot to shoulder in his extended family (monetarily and otherwise). He does not have a wife and children, so "at least" the stress they would've added is not there. Anyway... we were all right with it, though, at first, it was way more of a trouble than I would like to admit. (But I just DID admit it!) So, we've sort of gotten used to no AC. We started out in the NO AC world when the Lord gave us our van, via my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Mark and their family. And THAT hasn't been all that bad.

In the beginning, the days that we were home in the rental were SO long because of the heat! Truly, time is relative in the way that everything tends to be at some time or another. But, bit by bit, and probably because we had to, we did get used to it. And we lived that-a-way for about two months in that house. When we were moving into our house (this one), we did use AC. I'm not really sure why... because we could? Silly. I wish we hadn't. But I guess I wanted to give us a break....

So, as of June 1st we have had the AC in the OFF position out of choice rather than circumstance. Okay, so it's sort of circumstance, too... one of the units works fine. The other probably needs some of that stuff added... the "free" stuff that's not actually free.... ahwell... I hope you can figure out what stuff I'm talking about cause I do NOT know how to spell it and I'm not looking it up for ya!

Anyway, we were worried about overworking the working AC unit. Also, we want to save money. (Add in falls a tree and there goes THAT effort!) We want to save money so we can slowly work our way out of student loan debt AND contribute to the work going on in my Mom's kitchen... we'll see how our ability to do either work out given the more recent development of the fallen tree that did NOT make a sound. We're really not sure how we're going to deal with the deductible for our homeowner's insurance. We're praying and hoping that the owner of the house next door will end up responsbile! If you feel so included and inspired, I hope you will join your prayers with ours to that end.

Back to the title... I DO want to write about our experience of living without AC... especially in a hot/muggy climate like ours. Virginia, I promise, you have nothing on us! Seriously.

Okay, so... it gets sort of tolerable after about a month, atually, at least for me. And in that, I'm referring to the little "short" rental house we lived in before. But then you have to go places that are air conditioned. That, I will admit, makes returning home sometimes difficult. One thing that has helped me is being absolutely "sure" that when I open the door to our house I'll encounter an oven. Thus far, when I have been "sure" of that, I find a draft that feels rather cool! :) Probably, it actually IS cool... our house is really airy and I imagine that offers some buffer to a smaller-to-the-ground house heating up super fast (like the last one did!).

My experience of temps struck me even more today at church. My first day with my new Ward and it was lovely, by the way! ^_^ I met some lovely people and enjoyed a beautiful testimony service. And in Relief Society I felt completely comfy (emotionally, spiritually, mentally, AND physically). In looking around, there were a few women who were fanning themselves. I guess I'm able to be more comfy in a warmer room/building because I'm not used to any temp modification other than a fan blowing whatever kind of air it finds. What a gift and blessing, right?

Also, since we've been living AC free, I've actually worn a shawl in the temple. I do think this is another symptom of our AC-less-ness. It used to feel totally perfect, the temperature in the temple, I mean. Now it's rather cool! Funny, right?

So, I'm wondering if this next winter will be super-duper cold to me even if it doesn't get as "cold" as it was this last winter! (Now, winters do NOT have anything on you, Virginia... but relative to the change... it's hard to endure... at least for me. And THAT is coming from a girl who loved the cold!) I'm guessing the answer will be YES, just because of my experiences thus far.

3 comments:

Heya,Just a stranger on the other side of the country who enjoys your blog! We are currently without AC in Utah due to moving into a fixer-upper. I just keep telling myself that the heat (and thus the sweating) is aiding my body to eliminate toxins. It's nice to hear that you do get used to the heat! Thanks!

My AC needed repairs two weeks ago and I almost died during the two days I had to go without it. I was thinking, "How did they live before AC?" I was grumpy and didn't want to cook. I decided that it is just like so many other things (a second car, a microwave, a cellphone) that once we've had, we feel that they are a necessity. I did turn back on my AC once it was fixed but I do not believe it is a necessity. It does help me stay happy and sane though. :)